The Unemployment Journal: Day 1

I woke up at 6:30 this morning without the alarm clock. For a fleeting moment, I thought to myself "Plenty of time, the vanpool won't be here for over another hour". Then I realized, the vanpool isn't coming. There isn't a job to go to. I'm...unemployed.

I have never been unemployed. I've never allowed myself to be in a position to be unemployed. I've never been fired, laid off or quit a job without having another job to go to. I have a feeling all these years of being cockily employed has caught up to me. I'm trying not to panic.

I made a decision that I will still get up everyday like I'm going to work. I will get up, shower, put on my regular work clothes, take care of the dog and instead of commuting to Redmond I commute to my desk where I will spend the day applying to jobs. Today that is just what I did.

I also have taken the first step to going back to school. I've enrolled with Argosy University, which is a mostly online University for people who work and can't go to day classes. An enrollment counselor spent 2 hours on the phone with me helping me enroll and get all my ducks in order.

About my old job, I'm not exactly torn up about losing it. It was a terrible job, I had a terrible boss with a terrible team lead and it was going nowhere. Today after enrolling in school and taking my future back into my hands, I realized that if I weren't let go from my job on Friday I would be there and be miserable and not taking any steps closer to completing my education. I'd be unhappy. I wouldn't be making plans. I'd be complacent, just like I had been for the last however many years of my life. I wouldn't want to give him the pleasure, but I am kind of glad things turned out this way.

And to all those haters, I'll meet you again on your long journey to the middle.